Four Paris Olympians Combine for Six Medals at X Games Chiba 2024
by Brendan Rourke
It has been a busy year for Team USA’s summer extreme sports Olympians as several of them competed in their third major event in a single calendar year. Following up appearances at X Games Ventura 2024 and the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, several American athletes traveled to Chiba, Japan to compete at X Games Chiba 2024. First held in 1995, the summer X Games is the biggest non-Olympic event for professional skateboarders and BMX cyclists. Several Olympic skiers and snowboarders also compete in the winter iteration of the X Games, which typically take place in late January.
After three days of high-flying, flipping and twisting action, four athletes from Team USA’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games roster collected hardware – including two that took home a pair of medals.
Tom Scharr, the 25-year-old park skater from Cardiff, California, secured the lone gold medal of the bunch after scoring a 90.66 on his second run of the men’s park skateboard final. It is his third career X Games gold medal and the first after he secured silver in the men’s park final event at Paris 2024 – the best-ever finish by a U.S. men’s park skater in an Olympic Games. Scharr also picked up a bronze medal in Chiba in the vert competition a day prior, scoring 89.00 on his fourth and final run.
Known for his big air and all-around talent, the even-keeled Scharr burst onto the skating scene when he became the first skater to land a 1080 (three full rotations) on a skateboard after four previous (unsuccessful) attempts. He was 12 years old at the time. A month later, he repeated the feat at X Games Asia 2012, becoming the only skater to land a 1080 on a skateboard in competition. The trick earned him his first career gold medal, becoming the youngest-ever skater to win gold at an X Games.
First-time Olympian Gavin Bottger also podiumed in the men’s park final in Chiba, claiming bronze with a second-run score of 86.33. Although still a teenager at 17, the Oceanside, California, native already has four X Games medals to his name early into his career. Bottger is expected to be a major contender to make Team USA’s park skateboarding roster for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
The third and final skateboarder to pick up a medal in Chiba was veteran skater Nyjah Huston. The 12-time X Games champion and Davis, California, native secured a bronze medal in the men’s street skateboarding best trick event. The bronze is the 29-year-old’s 19th career X Games medal and comes after he picked up his first-ever Olympic medal, bronze, at Paris 2024.
Switching gears to BMX, 21-year-old first-time Olympian Marcus Christopher was the lone American athlete from Paris 2024 to medal in cycling events in Chiba. However, he made up for it by claiming two bronze medals over the weekend. The Canton, Ohio, native started his BMX park final with a bang, scoring 90.33 on his first run to take the overall lead with two runs to go. However, both Australia’s Logan Martin and Japan’s Rim Nakamura bested that score on run two, pushing Christopher to third.
Christopher had an excellent third run but could not improve upon his first-run score. A day later, Christopher secured bronze medal number two in the men’s BMX park best trick event. The two medals mark the third and fourth career X Games medals Christopher has won in his young career. The fearless, ‘go-big-or-go-home’ style rider also has one X Games gold medal to his name, which he picked up before Paris 2024 at X Games Ventura.
Brendan Rourke is a Digital Media Assistant with the USOPC. Previously he spent three seasons writing for the NBA's Indiana Pacers (2018-2021). He holds a Bachelor's from UCF and a Master's from IU-Indy's Sports Capital Journalism Program.